A Big Mistake
by can'tfightthemoonlight56
Summary: Mayuri's invention goes hyper, the Captains/Yoruchi are turned into toddlers, and Hyuuga Hinata, Ninja of Konoha, finds them dumped on her door step. What's a Ninja or Shinigami Vice-Captain to do?
1. They Came from Nowhere

_A Big Mistake_

_Chapter One: They Came From No Where_

Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Captain of the Twelfth Squad and head of the Research Department, could me heard cackling like a mad hag across the Soul Society.

In his own version of the bat-cave, he laughed hysterically as thunder roared and lightning flashed, momentarily flooding the room with a blinding white light. The table set before him was littered with DNA samples of the Thirteen Captains-including Shihoin Yoruchi, the majority taken without their consent. In a small bowl he had mixed all fourteen with numerous other substances; the liquid bubbled and gruggled, as though alive.

"Mwahahahahahahahha! I've almost got it! Almost got it! Soon, oh, oh very soon, I will me immortal! Bwahahahahaha!" He cackled. Lightning flashed suddenly, and filled the dark cave with an eerie, bright light. In the flash, the Shinigami's orange eyes caught the light and began to glow red as his laughter increased to the point where it blocked out the thunder-

And then the lights switched on.

His chest fell and a grimace replaced his joyful smile as he whipped round, nostrils flaring.

"Nemu!" He growled at his daughter, who stood by the light-switch with a casual expression on her face. "What do you think you're doing, you useless cow!"

"Forgive me, Mayuri-sama, but you instructed me earlier to remind you about the time frame." She told him in an expressionless voice. "In exactly two minutes, the generator will reach full power, and you will be able to cook the liquids, sir."

Mayuri twitched irritably, furious about having both forgotten the generator, and the fact Nemu had remembered. Unable to think of anything rude to snap, he turned briskly away from her and marched over to the said object. It was a tiny, cylinder shaped thing with what looked like purple slug for texture. It was no bigger then Mayuri's hand, and the bowl would only just fit inside. The captain squinted to read the pinky-sized box on the top, which displayed the generator's current power status. It was, at the moment, on 90%. Mayuri scolded. Nemu had been correct.

"Is there a problem, Mayuri-sama?" Nemu asked her father, feeling slightly concerned.

"No, you half-wit, of course there isn't." He snapped.

Nemu appeared unfazed by the remark. In fact, she looked a little relived. With that off her chest, she bowed and exited the room, shutting the gigantic purple-blue door behind her with a loud _slam _that caused the entire room the shake. A bottle, shaken by the vibrations, fell out of its holding cell and rolled across the table, towards a freaky-looking machine that the scientist had long since given up on. As it rolled, the lid unscrewed itself, and the faint red substance within split all over the machine; the slimy purple walls absorbed the stuff without a second to spare. The lights on the front flickered on, and it began to hum softly, much, much to softly for Kurotsuchi to notice, what with the thunder and lightning battering his cave. What's more, the thing was turned away from it's creator, so it's back faced him, rather then the front, where the lights blared and red numbers ticked in a square. It read two minutes. And further more, unknown to the captain, inside were samples of the thirteen squad captains and Yoruchi as well, and because it was designed to refrigerate such things, they were fresh as new. The invention scanned the DNA, solved some horribly difficult math problems that only a computer could solve, and then continued with the count down.

Mayuri swore loudly, and then glared icily after Nemu. Sometimes he wished he hadn't given the idiot-girl super-strength, because recently, whenever she closed big doors, they would slam so hard that the entire building would shake.

Glowering, the orange-eyed captain sauntered over to his spinning-chair and sat, waiting for the count down to end, spinning absent-mindedly.

Finally, two minutes passed, and he jumped up, suddenly giddy. In less then three seconds, he'd shoved the bowl inside the purple machine and had started fiddling with the key-pad on the side. As the the generator had started before the 'other' machine, it still had ten seconds to go before its count down ended. With every number that ticked by, Mayuri pressed a button, and more orange letters appeared on the generator's screen with an annoying _beep. _Finally, he went to press the start button, and the moment his long, blue finger nail pressed it down, his forgotten invention hit 0.

Across the Seireitei, the Captains of the Gotei 13 and Yoruchi flinched. They hadn't the faintest idea what caused it, only that they had, and they didn't want to to happen again, because it had been somewhat painful. Then, suddenly, they were over-come with weariness, and collapsed onto whatever was closest to them, whether it be a desk, a chair, or, in Kyoraku's case, their vice-captain. A tremor sped up their spins, and their heads were suddenly filled with memories of their childhood, back when they'd been five or seven or four, and everything they did was either really fun or just plain stupid. Then their eyes were filled with a blinding white light, and they were wrenched off their feet and into a black vortex, where they could feel themselves being squeezed so tightly they couldn't breath-

And then they were slammed against a rocky floor, and fell unconscious instantly.

/

Had Hyuuga Hinata, Heiress to the Hyuuga Clan, not been unable to sleep that fine winter night, and had not decided to make herself a hot cup of tea and sit outside to watch the snow flakes fall, the fourteen children that suddenly appeared outside her home would have surely frozen to death.

The moment they appeared, several began to cry as they were hit with icy-coldness and pain, as it occurred to them that they had just been bashed against freezing ground harder then stone. Their cries were carried across the Hyuuga compound by the wind, but no-one but Hinata was awake to notice their sobs, for it was midnight, and everyone else had long since retired to their warm beds, fleeing from the chills of winter. Throwing aside her tea, she sped out into the night, snow crunching loudly beneath her feet, and followed the wails. She found them under a tree, the branches weighed down by the sheer amount of snow it was forced to with-hold, huddling together and trying to calm those of who were crying.

The one that caught Hinata's attention immediately had to have been the youngest one. He didn't look any older then three, and was crying his eyes out, his tiny baby hands shielding his eyes from both the cold and her view. Then there was the black haired girl, who was basically screaming at the sky, crying harder then Hinata had seen any child cry in her life. And then there was the boy with long, dirty black hair with bells tied in it who was actually snickering at the girl's discomfort; he seemed the find the whole crying concept quite amusing.

Hinata hurried over to them, and brought the sobbing children close to her body, and all the heat it brought with it. The little boy clung to her and cried, relishing in the heat, and having something firm to cry on. The girl attempted to push her away, but the lure of kindness and heat proved to powerful to resist, for seconds later she was crying into Hinata's gown as well.

The other children began to crowd around her too, drawn in by both warmth and curiosity. Hinata noticed a few things. One, they were all holding some type of toy, each different from the last, and, two, one of these children looked like a wolf pup. The wolf pup did not move forward like the others, probably because it had fur to keep it warm, and stared awkwardly at its feet, as though afraid to move forward. Hinata's would've called to the pup, but her teeth were chattering audibly, and she longed to be back in the house, where she could give these children and herself a nice warm bed to snuggle up in.

So she stood, and ushered the children towards her home, including the pup wearing human clothing. She let the three-year old stay clinging to her neck and, instead of making him walk, hoisted him up and carried him back to the Hyuuga Compound.

No-one was awake, just as she had expected. The rooms were quiet, and the very walls seemed to be sleeping. She led the children into her room, where she sat the toddler down on her bed, and told then rest to be quiet in the most caring and motherly voice she could muster. It seemed to work, because the kids immediately feel quiet, and, instead of murmuring to one another, decided to explore their new guardian's room. The oldest one was a seven year old boy with a head of messy red hair and a face of tiny orange freckles; she told him not to let them touch anything, then left with the fate of her room in his care.

She returned with blankets and fold out beds, only to discover that half of everything she owned was now sprawled out on the floor. The red-head hung his head in shame, mumbling a timid apology, then, at Hinata's command, set about getting everything packed up. Then the beds were laid down, and the kids slipped into them, and just about all of them were asleep the moment their heads touched the pillow. The baby boy, however, did not want to let go of Hinata, and clung stubbornly to the folds of her gown when she tried to put him on a bed beside a four year old boy with startling orange eyes.

With a sigh, Hinata gave in and slid into her own bed, the baby's arms still wrapped around her neck. She allowed him to snuggle up against her, and couldn't help but smile when he fell into the deep sleep only a toddler could fall into, and his breathing slower. Hinata watched him for a moment, then took to stroking his hair. His hair was strange. It was silver in colour, and spiked lazily this way and that; the ninja was sure that, as he got older, the spikes would grow and become more prominent. It was very soft, too, and slid through her fingers like water. It was soothing.

And, to her great surprise, the girl who hadn't been able to get in a wink of sleep was gone about five minutes after hoarding the children inside.

**And there you go. First chapter of my first fanfic :] I hope its okay. I went to a lot of trouble to right this, I should be doing maths HW right now XD Anyway, in case you were wondering, the red head was Yamamoto, the Captain-General. His hair's white now because he's, like, 1000 years old, but he's seven now and he's got red hair...in this story, anyway.,...**

**I hope you enjoyed it. Please review! I really want to know if this is any good...I haven't used this style of writing before...**

**BTW, you will hear Hinata talk next chapter, it's not all gonna be like that! All the captains will have little adventures, too...So if anyone's got suggestions as to what they might be, they're wanted!**

**Bye-bye!**


	2. This Means War

_A Big Mistake_

_Chapter Two: This Means War_

"They're all gone!"

"Yes," Abarai Renji said for what seemed like the thousandth time. "Yeah, all the captains are gone! They disappeared about two hours ago."

Kurosaki Ichigo couldn't believe his ears. His mouth flapped stupidly for a moment, giving his shorter companion, Kuchiki Rukia, a chance to have her say. "Why? What in the world happened?" Rukia had been in the World of the Living at the said time, thus had no idea that her Captain, Ukitake Jyuushirou, had disappeared into thin air till Renji had noticed her absence and thought to give her a call. He gravely regretted doing so. Why bring Ichigo?

"Nobody knows." He said heavily. "Kuchiki-Taichou was with me when he disappeared. We were talking 'bout Aizen and the Espada, see, and then, suddenly, he flinched. He shook it off, then just doubled over onto the desk and started panting. I tried to get him up again, but he started murmuring about how his 'mummy' wouldn't let him get honey out of the jar anymore, or something like that, then-POOF!" He clapped his hands together to emphasise the word, earning himself a murderous look from Rukia. "Just like that! He was gone!"

Rukia sighed, and turned away, allowing her violet eyes to wander around the room. They were alone in one of the many rooms where the Vice-Captains grouped to meet, one consisting of a few small windows and a long table, at which the Vices sat. The walls were a pale shade of green, and the door was one of classic wood. Ichigo and herself were standing up, while Renji was slumped in a chair, looking very annoyed, with his thick, black eye-brows furrowed and his mouth set in a hard line. To someone else, it may have seemed Renji didn't give a toss that his Captain had just disappeared and could-_could-_be dead, but Rukia knew all to well that that was the expression Renji took on when he was worried out of his mind, and didn't want to seem like it.

Rukia's eyes narrowed slightly as she raised her arm and patted her chin thoughtfully. "You think Aizen could've had something to do with it?" She asked curiously.

Renji shook his head. "That's what we thought at the start. But if Aizen really wanted to disarm us, why not use the technology to get rid of all the seated officers? I mean, below them, everybody's weak as hell."

"But you're not ruling it out, are you?" Ichigo demanded. "You know Aizen. He likes to play mind games, and this could be one of them!"

"We know. Of course we haven't ruled it out, its just lower on the suspicions list, is all."

Ichigo frowned hard, and then looked away, seemingly lost in thought. Rukia watched him for a moment. "I hope they're alright." She said softly.

Renji's snort brought Ichigo back to earth. He blinked a couple of times with a obvious 'Huh-what?' look on his face. "Of course they're alright, Rukia!" Renji exclaimed. "These are the Taichou we're talking about. They're strong."

Ichigo nodded in agreement, having figured out where the conversation was going. "Yeah. Don't worry, Rukia, they're fine."

Rukia didn't look convinced, but she didn't press the subject. She wanted more then anything to believe her captain and all the others were completely fine, and were brain-storming ideas as to how they were going to get back as the vice-captains worried. But she just couldn't shake the feeling something horrible was happening to them as they spoke.

/

_Poke._

Hyuuga Hinata mumbled unintelligibly in her sleep, and snuggled closer to her pillow. Sunlight was pressing rudely against her closed eye-lids, but she wasn't prepared to give in just yet.

_Poke._

Hinata grumbled, a little annoyed now. Sunlight couldn't poke people. Hanabi wouldn't sneak into her room so earlier in the morning, much less start poking her cheek with small, tubby fingers.

_Poke._

"N...Nani?" Hinata grunted. She cracked open her eye and peered through her eye-lashes, only to come face to face with a little white haired baby with big, turquoise eyes, and a ridiculously large smile on his somewhat tanned face.

For a moment, Hinata stared at him, trying to figure just why a baby was beaming beside her; then the memoires of the previous day zoomed back and slapped the ninja across the face. With a small "Ah!" she immediately sat up, back stiff as wood, and stared wide-eyed at the scene before her.

Fourteen children of ages ranging from 7 to 4 were wandering around her room sheepishly, yawning loudly and shaking each other awake. A brown girl with short, dark purple hair was yelling "ZOOM!" at the top of her voice and running around in a circle with a cat plushie held firmly above her head, looking as though she was having the time of her life. The girl who'd been crying rivers yesterday now looked overjoyed, and was watching the black girl with almost fearful intensity.

Two boys, one with short, white hair, the other with curly brown, were playing cards. Meaning they were just looking at the pictures and laughing when they saw something that seemed funny or shouldn't be there. Huddled in a dark corner was the orange eyed fellow, muttering to himself and pulling at the lose strings of carpet. A black boy and two white ones stood apart, looking a little lost. The shortest was one with messy purple hair and squinted eyes; there was what seemed like a permanent grin plastered to his face, which gave off the most unsettling aura.

And then there was the other five kids, doing whatever they wanted, but never wandering too close to the door. Which Hinata was thankful for. She didn't want her father to find out about this. Knowing him, he would most likely throw them back outside into the cold, where they would freeze...

"Ho?" The baby boy poked her stomach gently, looking up at her with those gorgeous eyes and a confused expression on his face. Apparently, he couldn't understand why Hinata had suddenly looked startled, and stared around her room with her mouth flapping stupidly. He even seemed a little concerned.

Hinata smiled at him, and then scooped him up into the air. He sang "WEEEEEEE!" as she did so, and giggled happily when she started making plan noises.

"Hinata-sama?"

Hinata froze at the sound of her maid's voice. She unconsciously pulled the baby close-who looked a little sad about his fun being ended so quickly-and stared wide-eyed at the door. Any maid that discovered the children would be forced to tell her father by Main Branch law, a law that they couldn't fight even if they wanted to. It had become a part of them, a green symbol on their foreheads that would forever remind them of the fact that they were not Main Branch, and never would be, and that they were to follow the Main Branch's orders until death.

The children froze, too, and looked wonderingly at the door. Even the red-head looked, but, unlike the other children, he glanced over at Hinata with a worried expression on his freckled face

_Who's that? _It seemed to say.

"Hinata-sama?" The maid repeated, a little louder this time. "Are you awake?" A shadow appeared behind the paper-door.

"H-hai!" Hinata stammered quickly. "Don't come in!" She added hastily, as the door opened a crack.

The maid stopped abruptly, and stared through the paper at her mistress. "Hinata-sama? Why, miss?"

"A-ah, well, I, um ,want to be alone!" What a stupid excuse. "P-please go!"

The maid hesitated, but did eventually close the door. Her shadow bowed, before fading to grey, and then disappearing all together. Hinata let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. That was close...

"Your name's Hinata?" Hinata looked up to see the red-head had wandered over, clutching a phoenix-plushie to his chest.

Hinata nodded as she placed the baby beside her, who stared mucking around with her sheets. "Yeah. Hyuuga Hinata, actually. What's yours?" It had only just occurred to her that she didn't know the children's names, despite the fact she'd dragged them in out of the cold the previous night. Then again, would they even know their own names? The red-head, surely, being seven, would remember his, but the baby? He was three. The black haired girl was only four...but she's probably know her name, as long as it wasn't some ridiculously long one with a hundred characters in it...

"Mine's, uh..." The red-head's voice trailed off as his sunk back to think. His eye-brows furrowed from concentration. "Uh...Y-Yamamoto...uh...Genryusai..?...Shi...Shigekuni!" He ended triumphantly, looking extremely proud off himself. "Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni!"

Hinata blinked. That was one heck of a name. "Ah...S-so, is it okay if I call you Shigekuni-kun?"

Yamamoto nodded happily. "Yeah!"

"Okay. What's his name?" She gestured to the white haired baby, who was crawling slowly towards the edge of the bed. Hinata picked him up and sat him in her lap, where he stared around for a minute, looking confused, then shrugged his confusion off and began tugging at the sleeves of Hinata's gown. Yamamoto studied him intently, with those fiery amber eyes of his, and then retreated back into his mind once again. There was a light of remembrance in those eyes. He had obviously met the baby before last night, but couldn't quite remember where.

"...Hitsugaya Toushirou." Yamamoto said finally.

The baby stopped playing and looked up at the sound of his name. He looked from Hinata to Yamamoto and back again, then pressed his lips together and pouted. If they had called his name, why not speak? Hinata giggled, and ran her fingers through his silky hair. His pout vanished and was replaced by a goofy smile as he caught hold of those pale fingers and bent them gently this way and that. Hinata giggled once again before turning back to Yamamoto.

"Do you know all their names?" She asked.

Yamamoto looked away and stared at the children surrounding him. They had all gone back to playing, oblivious to the fact that they had come within a hair's width of being thrown back out into the winter frost. "...Yeah, I think I do." Yamamoto informed her. But he didn't look pleased about it. He looked a little confused, actually.

"Shigekuni-kun, are you alright?" Hinata asked softly, planting her free hand on his seven-year old shoulder.

Yamamoto's cheeks coloured. "Y-yeah, it's just that I can't remember why I know them." He told her. "I don't remember ever meeting them, but...but I _know _I did." He frowned. "It's...weird..."

"Don't worry about it. You'll remember eventually." Hinata assured him. Yamamoto stared at her, then cracked into a thankful grin.

A good hour and a half later, Hinata was clean, brushed and dressed, ready for action. It was Saturday, and her father, she discovered, was going to be away for the weekend (of course, he hadn't bothered to tell _her_), which was good. This way, she could relax a little and let the kids have more freedom. But she'd still need to be careful. If her father returned and suspected she was hiding something from him, he could torture one of the Lower Branch members via the Curse Mark, forcing them to tell everything they knew about Hinata's little 'secret'. She didn't want that. So she herded the kids together, draped them in jackets, gloves and snow-boots, and dragged them outside into the freezing air before anyone noticed she was out of her room.

She took them to Her Garden.

Not many people knew this, but, to celebrate her birth, he father had constructed a little garden for her and only her, cut off from the surrounding world by a tall, green hedge. Beyond the leafy wall was a sea of flowers. There was always something in bloom, whether it be summer or winter, spring or autumn. It was the one thing her father had done for her, before discovering she wasn't the most confident of fighters, lost interest in her and destroyed what little confidence she had left, before moving onto her sister, Hanabi. Now, the garden was something of a secret, and no-one but Hinata really went there. In fact, going there was a rare event for Hinata, too. She had a feeling she'd be going there a lot more now.

Sitting down on a snowy bench, Hinata let out a long sigh as the children began to go crazy in the snow.

The boy with bells in his hair-Zaraki Kenpachi was his name, according to Yamamoto-seemed to like picking on Kuchiki Byakyua, a snobby little boy who had the air of royalty drifting around him where ever he went. Just because they'd left the house didn't mean he'd stop. He rolled up some snow and squished it into a tight, messy snow-ball, and hulled it off the ground. He leaned back slightly and narrowed his one visible eye (the other was hidden behind a eye-patch), taking a deep breath as he did so. He imaged a target sign appearing on the back of Byakyua's head, and, with a small, toothy grin, threw the ball as hard and ferociously as he could.

Unfortunately, Byakyua saw something shiny in the bushes and moved out of the ball's way at the last second. It zipped past his oily black locks and across the clearing, before hitting Yamamoto squarely in the face. He fell back into the sound with a loud, painful _thud. _

He began to thrash around widely in the sound, beating at anything that came to close. Then he realized he'd been hit by a snow-ball, and, no, the snow wasn't attacking him as he'd feared; fuming, he sat upright and wiped the remaining white stuff off his face. He glowered at Kenpachi, who was laughing hysterically, before cracking a sinister grin and building his own snow-ball. He threw hard and fast, and it hit its target. The force of the blow was so powerful that Kenpachi flew a few feet, before falling, head-first, into the freezing snow. Yamamoto clutched his stomach and laughed, tears swelling in his eyes.

Zaraki growled like a angry dog after clambering back onto his feet. "This means war." He snarled. His bells jingled.

/

**Hello again. Thank you for all the nice reviews, I'll be posting replies below. **

**I didn't really like the way wrote this chapter :P I think I was too lazy...Anyway, I'm still planning all this out, so it might be alittle weird at the beginning, but it'll get better ^^ Please stick with me. Now, replies...**

**sasuhinafan121: Really? Thats good~ No, they don't all look chibi...well, a little, I guess, since they're all kids now, but they've changed. Ukitake's hair is much shorter and his eyes are bigger... Heh, neither can I :D Ino'll be like O-o. Thank you!**

**The Ghost of Insanity: Thanks! Hmm, that could be cool. I was gonna bring Sakura and Ino and maybe Tenten into the story soon, as well as Kiba and Shino :] I don't see why I can't bring Naruto and Kakashi into it, too. Thanks for the ideas.**

**KoreanGal5: Thanks! I'm glad to hear it. The red-head was Yamamoto (but you find that out in this chap, so...). His hairs white now cuz he's so old, but it could've been different when he was little :] There aren't any red-headed captains, so I thought I'd give him the 'honour' of being one XD**

**Bye-bye!**


	3. The War Continues

_A Big Mistake_

_Chapter Three: The War Continues_

_Burr burr...burr burr..._

Hinata jumped, startled, as the mobile in her pocket began to buzz. Tearing her lavender eyes away from Hitsugaya and his snow-man, Hinata groped blindly around in the deep pockets of her snow jacket for her phone. Once found, she flipped it open and placed it to her ear.

"Mushi mushi?" She said politely.

_"HINATA!" _Was the response.

Hinata yelped and hurriedly pulled the phone away from her throbbing ear, tears sparkling in her eyes. Kiba, her dog-loving team-mate, had just screamed so loudly into her ear, you'd think he was speaking to her from the other side of a foot-ball stadium. This wasn't the first time Kiba had greeted her via phone call like this, and Hinata was beginning to wonder whether she would go deaf or not if these calls continued.

Holding the phone a little closer then arm's length, Hinata said clear and loudly: "K-Kiba-kun? Is that you?"

_"Yeah, of COURSE its me!" _The browned haired boy growled, clearly annoyed. Hinata frowned to herself. Kiba rarely got annoyed with her, save for the few times he'd lost it due to her excessive apologizing. Other then that, he only got annoyed when he was worried; getting annoyed was he strange and boy-ish way of saying, 'I'm really worried about you, and I'd like it if you didn't do that again.'

"U-um...Hi?" Hinata said hesitantly. "Wh-what's wrong?"

_"Pff! I'll tell you what's wrong, me and Shino have been looking for you for the past half an hour, and we can't find you freaking anywhere!" _Kiba barked furiously. _"The maids are going crazy looking for you, screaming stuff like 'If Hyuuga-sama is hurt, oh, what'll we do!' and other shit! Just-just where are you, anyway!"_

Hinata's eyes widened in surprise, then, somewhere inside, a apart of her brain mentally slapped itself. Of _course _the maids would've realized she'd packed up and gone, after seeing the time and skipping merrily inside to wake her for breakfast. And of _course _Kiba and Shino would come over, they were her team mates, and visited regularly, even if they weren't meant to be training together or preparing for a mission. They were friends! And then there was-

Hinata almost slapped herself for real this time. And then there was Neji, her stiff-backed cousin who had tried to kill her during the Chuuin Exams-and had almost succeeded. Had the Sensei not been there, Hinata most surely would've faded where she fell. But that wasn't important right now-what _was _important was the fact Neji would most likely tell her father about the children, or at least tell others in the Lower Branch who would. If he found out, they were done for...

"Hina-chan?"

Hinata felt a gentle tug on her pants, and glanced down to see the five-year old Unohana Retsu standing by her feet. Unohana was a pretty girl; she had glossy black hair which she pulled into a very short plat that stopped around her chest area, and big, blue eyes, filled with love and compassion. She was the type of person who smiled regularly, and wanted to please everyone-but she could be scary. While getting ready for the trip to Her Garden, Unohana had got into a little scuffle with the orange-eyed kid-Kurotsuchi Mayuri. One second, Unohana had been the loving little pumpkin she always was; next second, everything her gaze touched seemed to freeze, and her lips curled into a fearsome smile defeated only by that of Orochimaru. Luckily, she didn't look like that now.

Hinata smiled. "What's up, Retsu-chan?"

Unohana's smile grew a little, and she held out her hands; in those small fists was a flower with curling white sleeves streaked through the gold, and a centre of the rosiest pink. The stalk itself was strange, black in colour, and quite short. Hinata's smile grew. The said flower was what her mother called a Winter Rose, because no-one had really known its actual name, and because it only bloomed in winter. And it was incredibly beautiful.

"I picked it for you." Unohana told her, in her sweet, gentle voice. She was on the tips of her toes, hoping with all her might that Hinata would accept the gift.

Hinata gladly took the flower, and sniffed it. It smelled of fresh snow and, strangely, cherry blossoms.

Hinata looked down at Unohana and opened her mouth to say, 'Thank you, Retsu-chan, I'll look after it', when Kiba exploded on the other side of the cell phone in a fit of rage.

_"HINATA! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU! DON'T IGNORE ME, YOU-YOU-URG! LISTEN TO ME, DAMNIT! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU HIDING!-OUF!"_

There was a sharp _thudding _sound, and a crackling of air as the phone was transferred from one hand to another. Before Hinata absorbed any more, she heard Unohana sniff audibly, and then start to cry. The sudden violet screaming had startled her to the point of tears.

"O-oh, Retsu-chan, it's okay!" Hinata jumped off the bench and stroked Unohana's glossy hair affectionately, offering comfort. "It's okay, Retsu-chan! That was just Kiba-kun being silly! It's okay, Retsu-chan, it's okay...shhhh..."

_"Hinata." _It was Shino's voice this time. Hinata, still holding Retsu, held the phone to ear, and kept it there using her shoulder; she wrapped her now free arm around Unohana's body and pulled her close, like a mother assuring her child that everything was alright. "I'm here, Shino-kun."

_"Hmm. Where are you?"_

"At 'My Garden'," She told him softly, while Retsu's sobs began to decrease. Unlike Kiba and the maids, Shino knew where Her Garden was. He'd been there once before, but, of course, by accident. He'd fallen through the hedge. "I'm looking after s-some children. They're all amusing themselves right now, but...I think I'll need some help-" At that moment, Hinata heard someone start crying blue murder from the other side of the garden, followed by a series of kicking sounds that were almost comical. Hinata gasped and, dropping the phone, scooped Unohana up in her arms and raced towards the source of the noise.

There, she found short haired Soi Fon and glasses-wearing Aizen Souske throwing things at one another. Soi Fon was crying rivers and Aizen was barely suppressing sobs. On the side lines, Ichimaru Gin was cheering his support, though he wasn't actually saying for whom, and Tousen Kaname was twiddling his thumbs, wondering whether he should try and stop them or not. Seeing the violent scene unfold, Unohana began to bawl again, wailing loudly at the sky, and, not far away, Kurotsuchi Mayuri heard her screams, and for no particular reason, began to scream as well.

Then Soi Fon tripped and landed, head first, into the snow. She scrambled to her feet and proceeded to shriek and screech, her face barely visible beneath the sea of tears. Aizen stopped throwing things and broke down, too, to which Ichimaru responded to with a gigantic grin and a little laugh. This only made Aizen cry harder.

Hinata felt as though her head was going to explode. She needed help. _Badly. _

/

"Oh dang!"

Yamamoto dived behind his snowy fort as another hundred snow-balls came flying his way. Several smashed into the hole Zaraki had made in his fort, making it even larger, and the other thousand fell in front and behind with, with the few painful exceptions of those which fell _on _him. Holding back tears, Yamamoto peered over the edge of his fort, watching through teary eyes as Zaraki cackled over at his fort, a well made-wall that surrounded his base completely.

Zaraki could built snow-balls quickly. Really, _really _quickly. Yamamoto barely had time to blink before the next round would come along, with all its icy glory, battering his body for what seemed like the millionth time. Fighting Zaraki was like fighting three eight year olds, all surprisingly strong, despite the fact they had one eye and no eye-brows. Yamamoto knew very well that he couldn't win this battle alone.

Snatching his chance, Yamamoto quickly glanced around the clearing while Zaraki laughed to himself, searching for a comrade. Finally, he found one.

"Byakyua-san!" He cried, waving frantically from behind his fort.

Kuchiki Byakyua, who'd been examining the shiny coin he'd found in the bushes, looked up and blinked curiously. He hadn't noticed a fight was going on till then. Shiny things could occupy ones mind to great lengths.

"I need your help!" Yamamoto wailed. "Come help me get Ken-kun!"

Byakyua recoiled, suddenly looking terrified. "N-no way!" He stammered, blanching. "Y-you fight! Z-Zaraki's scary!"

Yamamoto snorted. "I can't believe you! I though Ken-kun was your rival! Scardy-cat Kuchiki! Scardy-cat Kuchiki! Baby Kuchiki!"

Byakyua flushed angrily. "I am NOT a baby, you stupid red-head!" He growled.

"Then come play!"

"FINE!" Byakyua rolled up his sleeves in a manly manner, then marched over to Yamamoto's fort, small chest puffed out in an attempt to make himself look bigger. That image vanished, though, when Zaraki picked up some more snow and hurtled it at his head of silky black hair, which he only narrowly dodged. He glowered over the edge of the fort for a moment, then knelt down and set about making his own snow balls. He threw then fast and hard, but Zaraki dodged them easily and threw his own much, much quicker and more furiously.

Yamamoto fired one at the wall. It splattered against the snow, but, unlike what Zaraki did to his fought, it stayed firm and solid. Teeth barred, Yamamoto made another few snow-balls and threw them as hard as he could. Byakyua followed his lead.

Zaraki just laughed insanely and continued to avoid their attacks.

"He's so fast!" Byakyua huffed. "And strong!"

"We can beat him!" Yamamoto said confidently, before launching another attack. "He's only five!"

_So am I, _Byakyua thought sadly.

/

Komamura Sajin watched as the snow-fight war raged not far away. Part of him wished he could join the brawl. The other part hoped no-one would get hurt.

Komamura was standing alone by a huge, snow-covered tree, branches bending under the pressure. It was quite, there, save for the distant screams he could hear coming from further across the garden. Everything was still. It was peaceful, just how he liked it.

He just wished he wasn't alone.

"Ko-chan?"

Komamura jumped in surprise, issuing a small 'yip!', before spinning around to see who had followed him. Three year old Hitsugaya Toushirou had somehow managed to crawl over without him hearing, and was watching the wolf-pup with those big, wondering eyes of his, turquoise in colour. Hitsugaya always seemed to have either a confused expression or a joyful expression on his face, as though, being a baby, he couldn't decide which one he felt more. At the moment, he looked both confused and concerned, as though he couldn't understand why Komamura would wander off on his own and not play with anyone else.

"Why all alone?" He asked. Very predicable, this boy.

"Because I hurt things." Komamura said quietly. "They don't like me because I hurt things."

Hitsugaya blinked, clearly confused. "Hurt?"

The wolf-pup nodded. "Yeah. Hurt."

"Why?"

"I don't mean to," He said awkwardly. "I'm strong. When he first came here, back in the forest, I was scared because I didn't know what was going on, so a shoved Mayuri-san away. He hit Retsu-chan, and the two began to cry. I hurt things." He repeated, looking shameful. He hadn't meant to hurt them. He'd been scared, freaked out, confused and utterly bewildered. He couldn't remember how or where he had come from, who he was or why he was there, standing in a snow clearing surrounded by faces he didn't know. The weird stares. The trembling lips. The fearful glances. All hitting him at once while he struggled to remember what the heck was happening...

Hitsugaya frowned and furrowed his thin, white-eye brows as he began to think. He tapped his chin in what was meant to be a thoughtful way, but came out making him look silly and cute. Suddenly, he broke into a grin with a happy 'Ah!' and started scribbling in the snow. He continued glance at Komamura every few seconds, studying his features, before retreating.

Komamura flicked his ear, and then turned slightly to look. But before he could see anything, Hitsugaya's tiny hand was pushing his stout back to the front, so he was looking as him from the side, as he had been before. Then he started scribbling again.

After a while, Hitsugaya tugged happily on the edge of Komamura's jacket and pointed eagerly at the ground. Confused and curious, the wolf-pup followed his finger and saw, with a great deal of surprise, that the white haired baby had drawn _him _in the snow. Crudely, yes, but still drawn him in a way that was recognisable. Komamura stared wonderingly at the drawing, then looked to the baby for an explanation.

"Ha!" Hitsugaya giggled, patting the space next to him. "Wanna draw?" He asked, staring up at Komamura with big, happy eyes. Encouraging eyes. Komamura stared at him in awe. Suddenly the baby didn't seen so young.

/

"Where the hell is Aizen-sama?"

Grimmjow, standing in the Espada gathering room with the rest, was understandably pissed. Earlier that day, the ten Arrancar had woke to realize their master, and his two closest goons, had disappeared into thin air without a trace. They had searched for the three for hours, both in and out of the gigantic castle Aizen had made himself, but their search had revealed no more then they already knew: Aizen, Ichimaru and Tousen had all disappeared.

"Yelling won't do anything." Harribel, the dark Espada woman with long, blond hair, snipped angrily. She rarely got angry so quickly, but losing her leader to god knows what was starting to make her irritated, and Grimmjow's shouts didn't make it any easier to ignore.

"Well, we gotta do something!" The blue haired, blue eyed man growled back. He looked about ready to punch someone.

Ulquiorra looked him up and down, green eyes thoughtful, then looked away towards the window. "Perhaps the Shinigami have taken them." He suggested, voice cold.

"The Shinigami? Those ants?" Baraggan huffed, his beady eyes flashing in disbelief. "Impossible."

"In a situation where the possible are ruled out, the impossible there for becomes the possible." Szayel said thoughtfully, smirking a little. The old Espada glared at him, but said nothing. There was logic in what the youth said.

"If that's true," Harribel said slowly, hesitantly, trying it out. "Would that mean we have to contact the Shinigami?"

Her question was met with blank stares. Stark yawned loudly in an uninterested away, sat down on a spinning chair, and began to do just that.

Without leadership, the Espada really were just a bunch of useless Arrancar.

/

**OMG. HARD CHAPTER TO WRITE. HARD CHAPTER TO WRITE. ALMOST DIED WRITING IT. OMG**

**OMG. I'M SO SORRY. SO SORRY. TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE. SOOOOORRRRRYYYYY! **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter~ I apologize for the swear word. I've wanted to bring the Espada in for a while now. It feels good to finally have them there. The snow fight 'arc' should end next chapter, with Kiba and Shino making their appearance, Hitsugaya and Komamura as best friends and Zaraki digging Yamamoto's grave...or will it? DUN DUN DUUUUN! XD**

**Thank you for reading AND putting up with my laziness. Please stay with me for the following weeks~**


	4. All Wars Must End, And Dogs Can't Draw

_A Big Mistake_

_Chapter Four: All Wars Must End, and Dogs Can't Draw_

"AAAAAAHHH!"

With a squeal, Byakuya dived into the snow and huddled, trembling, against the wall of the fort. He was going to be killed! Kenpachi was going to kill him, and, damn him, he was going to dance on Byakyua's brave. Cackling, too! Like the annoying bastard he was!

Another round of snow ball flew out of the blue, and one smacked Yamamoto right in the face. With a cry, the red head was flung to the ground in a icy shower of white snow. Kenpachi roared with laughter and began to gather more snow balls. Byakyua wriggled towards Yamamoto, but froze in place as the red-head pulled himself up with a pain-filled groan.

"Y-Yamamoto-san, are you okay?" Byakyua whispered frantically. Why he was whispering, he wasn't sure.

Yamamoto didn't answer. Then he cringed, and a thin stream of something hot and red trickled down his face. For a moment, they simply stared at the blood with their eyes wide with utter horror. Then Yamamoto threw his head back and yelled.

"HA! Giving up already, you cry babies!" Kenpachi teased, as Yamamoto cried into his gloves and Byakyua looked from Kenpachi to Yamamoto, his face drained of all colour. "Haha! The fight in mine! Prepare to die!"

"You stupid shrimp!" Yamamoto wiped his tears aside and rolled up another snow ball, and aimed it right for Kenpachi's head. Screaming with fury, Yamamoto threw the ball and it sailed through the air like a bullet. The snow-bullet was too fast, too strong, for Kenpachi to avoid, but the boy managed to flip himself enough to the side to reduce the damage. He flopped into the snow with a gasp and clutched his side, tingling with...with _excitement._

"Yes!" He gasped. "Yes! Finally!"

"Wh-what?" Byakyua spluttered. "He's not-"

"Of course not," Yamamoto snapped. "Zaraki Kenpachi is the lord of battle. There's no way such a feeble attack would kill him."

Byakyua blinked. He hadn't understood a word Yamamoto had just said.

Grinning like a mad man, Kenpachi picked up a stick and held it steadily before his red-haired opponent, his eye glinted dangerously.

"Come, Yama-chan! I challenge you to a stick fight!" He declared.

"Fine!" Yamamoto snatched up his own stick, and marched out from the cover of the fortress. He stood before Kenpachi like a man on a mission, and held his weapon firmly in his gloved hands, his amber eyes flaring like infernos.

And Byakyua? Well, he didn't want to die, you see, so he stayed right where he was. Noble babies have no back-bones.

With a hot-blooded cry, Yamamoto and Kenpachi surged forward simultaneously, as though obeying some unseen command, and swung at each other. Yamamoto dropped and jabbed at Kenpachi's knees, but Kenpachi danced away with a insane laugh and swung at Yamamoto's hairy head. Yamamoto leapt backwards, his feet skidding in the snow, and dived towards Kenpachi's side. Once again, Kenpachi was gone before the blow could land, and with a harsh cackle, the eye-patch wearing boy battered Yamamoto away like he was nothing.

"Haha! You're going to have to do better then that!" Came Kenpachi taunt, as Yamamoto pulled himself out of the frosty snow, expression livid.

"Stupid baby!" Yamamoto hollered, and he jumped up and charged forward.

/

"There, there, Soi Fon-chan, there, there."

Hinata's cooing lulled the baby girl into slumber, and as she laid blissfully in Hinata's lap, Aizen glared at her from the bench where he sat with Ichimaru and Tousen. And Shino. The bug-lover had Tousen on his shoulders, and the black-skinned boy seemed to enjoy being up so high, despite being blind. Ichimaru was staring lustfully up at the sky, and occasionally risked hostiles glances at Tousen, glares dripping with envy. But both were completely ignoring Aizen, and as a result the brown-haired boy crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

"Say sorry to Soi-chan!" Yoruchi hissed at Aizen.

Aizen looked utterly bewildered by the purple-haired girl's demand, and stuck up his nose. "No way!" He huffed. "She threw stuff at me!"

"Only because you pushed her over!" Yoruchi countered.

"Because she was calling me names!"

"All she said was 'Captain Butterfly'!" Yoruchi snapped. "You're such a baby, Souske! Baby! Baby! Baby!"

"Shut up!"

"That enough!" Kiba barked, and immediately the children fell silent. The dog-like boy glared at the two of them until they both shrunk away and grouped around Hinata, who was still fussing over Soi Fon's teary face. Hinata lifted Mayuri, who was sitting close by, up onto the bench and wiped the snow off his front. His orange eyes flared with annoyance but Hinata took no notice, as her motherly instincts had already kicked in.

Kiba and Shino had arrived a few minutes ago, and with their help, Hinata had somehow managed to get the screaming kids in order. Retsu had been terrified of Kiba at first glance, as she remembered his furious shriek that had come ringing from the phone, but her fear had instantly died the moment she saw Akamaru, Kiba's ninja dog and most trusted companion. At the moment, the two were off playing, and Retsu's squeal of delight could be heard from a few meters away.

"Geez," Kiba grumbled. "Where is all these brats come from?"

Hinata shrugged. "I-I found them outside last night," She explained, as she sat Mayuri back down on the snow, and the creepy little boy wriggled out of her grasp and raced across the field. "I don't k-know where they came from."

"There's so many!" Kiba sighed. "How many, exactly?"

"Fourteen, I think."

"Wow. You can't keep those a secret for long, can ya?"

Hinata shook her head sullenly, her bangs bouncing by her ears. "No." She said sadly. "T-there's no way I can."

Just then, Ukitake and Kyoraku waddled into view. Literally, waddled. They were making quacking noises and had their arms pressed firmly against their sides. Their footsteps were clumsy and choppy, but the two looked about ready to collapse into laughter. Hinata giggled happily. She had known them for less then a day, but already she loved them all.

"Are they pretending to be ducks?" Kiba asked incredulously.

"Yep!"

He laughed, and his laugh sounded strangely dog-like.

"What will you do?" Shino asked, as he set Tousen down, and the boy let out a groan of disappointment. Ichimaru snickered, and Aizen's pout transformed into a smirk. "You cannot possible hide them here forever, and soon people will come looking for you."

"I know." Hinata sighed a heavy sigh, and absently stroked Soi Fon's glossy hair. "I know."

"I'll go stop yer dad from forming a search party," Kiba decided with a toothy grin. "There's no need to lie, right? I'll tell him we're all here training, and that'll satisfy him, right?"

Hinata nodded, and gratitude for Kiba exploded in her chest. "Hai. Th-thank you, Kiba-kun."

"No sweat." And then he was gone, slipping through the bushes and darting across the vast expanse of Hyuuga owned land. In her lap, Soi Fon spun to the side with a muffled murmur, and Yoruchi's gleaming gold eyes instantly fell on her tiny form.

"She's okay, Yoruchi-chan," Hinata promised. "Just t-tired."

"I know." Yoruchi replied with mock smugness. "I'm a genius, after all."

With a light chuckle, Hinata wrapped her scarp around Soi Fon like a blanket, and placed her gently upon the bench. Hinata stood up, and with a brief conversation with Shino, Hinata wandered through the garden and allowed her thoughts to wonder.

Hinata never noticed she was being followed.

/

Kuchiki Rukia had a problem.

On her way home that evening, Rukia had turned the corner like she usually did, only to stop dead and stare in horror was the brown skinned, blond haired and green eyed arrancar standing a few feet away. Clad in the skimpiest get-up Rukia had ever seen, the she-demon looked extremely imposing and powerful. A short, but thick-bladed sword was strapped to her back, and her arms were folded firmly over her busty chest.

It was a _big_ problem.

"Who-who the hell are you?" Rukia demanded, as her arm flashed to the hilt of her zunpaku-to and she took on her fighting stance, legs bent and back slightly hunched. Her violet eyes burned with resolve. She knew by the she-arrancar's water like spirit energy that Rukia's strength was far beneath her's, but that was no reason to give up!

The arrancar, however, remained motionless, not making a single move for her own weapon. Her gaze was steady, and equally emotionless. Rukia had never seen such a frosty gaze. It was unnerving, and sent shivers up her spin. Was she secretly being mocked?

"I am Tia Harribel," The arrancar said after what felt like a thousand years. "The Third Espada."

Rukia's heart skipped a beat. The _Third Espada! _Oh, crap.

"I am not here to fight you." Rukia could've jumped for glee, had she no pride. "I am here to speak with you."

"Why?" Rukia growled harshly. She sounded much more confident that she felt.

Harribel's face remained indifferent, but what she said almost caused Rukia to faint with shock.

"Aizen-sama, Ichimaru and Tousen have all gone missing, and we, the Espada, thought you may have taken them."

Rukia gapped at Harribel. Harribel stared back at Rukia. There was a long, tense silence, in which Rukia appeared to have frozen. After a while, Harribel began to feel uneasy. Was the shinigami sick...?

"...What?" Rukia choked out at last.

"Aizen-sama, Ichimaru and Tousen have all gone missing."

"F-for how long?"

"Almost eighteen hours."

"But that's-" Rukia couldn't believed. The captains had disappeared in the exact same time frame, too, and were yet to return. What were the chances of Aizen, Ichimaru and Tousen-all former captains of the Gotei 13-were to suddenly vanish, along with the remaining captain-class shinigami? Same time, same day? It couldn't possibly be a coincidence!

"But what?" Harribel asked coolly, and Rukia swallowed. She couldn't tell the enemy that the most powerful shinigami in the Seireitei had just disappeared, could she?

"Well?"

"Eh.." Rukia frowned. What she was about to do broke every rule she had ever known, but what the heck? The captains were gone, anyway, and the arrancar were in the same turmoil as them...

"Wanna get some tea?"

Harribel stared at her. Then she shrugged.

"K."

/

Yamamoto hurt. All over, actually. Everything on his body hurt, and Kenpachi stood over him like some sort of war god, with his freak-ish teeth barred in a insane grin and his eyes ablaze. He'd removed his eye-patch some time ago, while cackling about some crazy power, and the two had gone all out.

"I win!" Kenpachi yelled, and he removed the tip of his 'blade' from Yamamoto's exposed throat. "Shame on you, Yamamoto!"

"Shut-up!" Yamamoto panted. He went to get up, but his behind didn't agree, and he let out a gasp of pain. Then his eyes filled with tears, and Yamamoto began to sob. His sword-stick lay limp by his side as his crying increased, and before long he was wailing.

"Shigekuni-kun! What's wrong?" Hinata appeared over the hill, and stumbled through the snow. She dropped by Yamamoto's side and held him in her arms, and gently stroked his back.

"Wh-what's wrong, hmm?" She said softly, sweetly, and Yamamoto sniffed loudly.

"My butt hurts!"

"Did you fall over?"

"Nope!" Kenpachi exclaimed hotly. "I pushed him!"

"K-Kenpachi-kun!" Hinata gasped. "Why?"

"'Cuz I'm a warrior!"

Hinata wrenched the stick out of Kenpachi's hand, and he let out a howl. He reached for his weapon, but Hinata's arm was too long, and even on his tippy-toes, he couldn't reach prized stick. And so he lapsed into a tantrum, and thumped the ground with his feet, while Hinata rocked Yamamoto back and forth.

Byakyua, meanwhile, had relocated his shiny coin and had long since forgotten the battle had even started.

Go figure.

/

Komamura had discovered something very significant today.

He couldn't draw for-, well, you get the picture.

Scribbled crudely in the snow was what was supposed to be a picture of Hitsugaya, with his funny white hair flipping this way and that, but had come to resemble a awkwardly shaped blob with funny dots jabbed near the top for eyes, and a wiggly ling spreading from one side to the other for a mouth. Komamura stared at the drawing in dismay, while Hitsugaya exploded into a first of giggles.

"Funny!" He laughed, and the wolf-pup whimpered.

"Sorry." He mumbled. Hitsugaya patted his fluffy arm encouragingly.

"It's okay!" He soothed. "I like it! Good blob!"

"It's you." The wolf-pup confessed.

Hitsugaya drew back his hand with a dark scowl, and Komamura jumped.

Had he just offended a baby?

/

***bows two trillion times* FORGIVE ME!**

**I'm so, so, soooooo sorry this took so long! *cries* And I don't even have an excuse!**

**I promise to update quicker next time. I swear! So please stay with me, and thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews. I love you guys so much, you wouldn't believe it.**

**I'll respond to the reviews next chapter. Can't do it now, cuz I've got school to go to! xD **

**Bye-bye!**


	5. Soul Side

_A Big Mistake_

_Chapter Five: Soul Side_

"Rukia..."

"What is it, Ichigo?"

"...tell me again why the Espada are here..."

Rukia sighed. "You forgot again? Honestly, this must be the tenth time I've explained it-"

"Just tell me!" The boy snapped.

Rukia huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine. Harribel-san appeared suddenly and, rather then fight her and get myself killed, I invited her for tea. I had not been aware at the time, though, that the entire Espada had been laying it wait around the bend. They had apparently assumed my inviting Harribel-san meant I was inviting all of them." She shrugged indifferently. "Not that it matters."

Ichigo stared at her incredulously, his mouth flapping stupidly like a stunned fish.

He and Rukia were huddled together in the back of the vice-captain meeting hall, and the buzz of conversation choked the air. Much to Ichigo's shock, after the vice-captains got over their initial horror of seeing the ten most powerful beings in Hueco Mundo just pop by, they didn't seem to mind the arrancars' company.

Hisagi and Harribel were chatting in a corner on the far side of the room. Harribel's eyes twinkled with amusement, and Hisagi was grinning lopsidedly so his brilliant white teeth were in full view.

Baraggan was dictating the importance of modesty to Matsumoto, but she wasn't listening at all, and instead chose to examine her new coat of nail polish with impish smile.

Szayel was talking with Nemu; though, really, _he _was doing all the talking, and Nemu only slipped in the occasional 'Hai, sir,' or 'Yes, your hair does make you look gay,'.

Zommari was sobbing in the corner, wailing for Aizen-sama for return. Everyone ignored him.

Hinamori was trying to get a response out of Ulquiorra, but he just stared at her.

Grimmjow and Renji were sitting at the head of the table with their heads together, no doubt thinking up ways of how to make Ichigo's life as miserable as possible.

Stark was asleep in a chair, and was snoring loudly. Yachiru was drawing all over his face, giggling merrily as she decorated his cheeks with squiggly circles, and Nanao was shaking her head in exasperation.

Nnoitra was glaring at all the females in the room, and muttering darkly about women wrongly being granted high-ranking positions. The fact he wasn't cackling like a mad man and trying to kill everybody simply flabbergasted Ichigo.

Aaroniero-Arruruerie was hiding in a shadowy corner, their heads bobbing in the sludge-green water. Kira was huddled in the shadows, too, hugging his knees to his chest and looking depressed as ever.

And then there was Yammy. He was having a ramen eating contest with Omaeda, who, not surprisingly, was looking a lot healthier since Soi Fon's disappearance. His gut seemed to have shrunk slightly, too. In less then twenty-four hours.

"This is..." Ichigo struggled to find the right words. "...so _wrong._"

"Why?" Rukia asked, blinking. "We're not killing each other, and that's always a good sign."

"Yeah, I know, but they're the Espada! Our enemies! And we're having tea with them!" Ichigo shouted, waving his arms around in a helpless gesture.

"Well, actually, we never got around to the tea," Rukia admitted sheepishly. "Harribel-san started talking to Hisagi-fuku-taichou before I could make any."

Ichigo shuddered. "That only re-enforces my 'this is so wrong' remark!"

"People!" Nanao screeched suddenly, and instantly all sound of conversation came to an abrupt halt. "Have you forgotten why we are here! The captains have gone missing! We need to discuss this!"

"Yes," Szayel agreed, shocking everyone. "The shinigami woman is right. In fact, Nemu-san and I have been talking about some possibilities. We both agree that that Kurotsuchi-bastard had something to do with it."

Nanao tapped her chin thoughtfully. Yes, that did sound reasonable. Kurotsuchi Mayuri was, after all, a mad scientist, and loved to experiment 'outside the box'. The more she pondered over it, the more sense it made, and after some time she nodded approvingly.

"Yes," She declared. "that sounds about right. Nemu-san," Nanao turned to the dark-haired vice-captain, who was yet to say a word. "would you allow us to search Kurotsuchi-taichou's office?"

"Of course," Nemu replied in her frighteningly calm voice. "but I refuse to be held responsible for anything that jumps out of the dark, rips you to shreds and drags your bloody corpse away."

Nanao blanched, all the colour draining from her face, and Szayel smiled fondly down at his new-found busty friend. Ichigo looked from one to the other, at a lost for words, and Rukia clapped her hands together, snickering.

"Kurotsuchi-fuku-taichou sure knows how to word a good joke!" She said breezily.

"Rukia..." Ichigo murmured uneasily. "...I don't think that was a joke..."

/

Mayuri's office was very dark and very creepy, with shadows dancing all over the walls, and computers humming and blinking. Something thick and hairy growled menacingly in the darkness, somewhere off to Ichigo's left, and he was careful to keep his feet firmly planted in the light streaming in through the open door. Rukia and Nemu appeared completely unfazed by the sheer weirdness of the place, and the two marched toward the main computer with their heads held high with purpose. Ichigo scampered after them, with Nanao and the others hard on his heels.

The computer key board looked more like keys from a piano or something. There was barely-there kanji carved into each key, and they shone a pale orange in the dim lighting. Nemu's hands flashed across the board. Each time her fingers pressed down a key, it gave a sweet musical sigh, and thus filled the room with a enchanting melody that beckoned you forward.

Still, Ichigo kept his distance.

"How strange," Harribel commented, gazing around with mild interest. Beside her, Hisagi was staring wide-eyed at the shadows. The hairy-monster-thing glared right back, eyes red as blood, burning a hole into his forehead.

"Go away!" Hisagi snapped, jerking his hand forward suddenly in the hopes of scaring the thing away.

The monster flinched, startled by the movement, but then it stopped low on its hunches and hissed. It was a sharp, echoing sound that seemed to bounce around in Hisagi's skull, not to mention off the steely grey walls of Mayuri's lab. A tail twitched, swishing this way and that, and then the monster slipped away, melting into the background.

Hisagi blinked.

Was that a good sign or a bad sign?

"I've entered the main frame," Nemu announced.

Rukia patted her back encouragingly. "That was incredible, fuku-taichou! You entered so quickly!"

Nemu hung her head in embarrassment, blushing faintly. She wasn't used to be complimented. Mayuri expected her to be able to do these things and, rather then rewarding her, he would rudely point out what she did wrong, where her fingers slipped or her attention was divided.

"Thank you," She whispered.

Rukia smiled. "You're welcome."

"What does it say?" Nanao suddenly thrust her head between the two. She was fiddling with her glasses, and her slender fingers shock with anxiety. She hated this place and wanted to be out of it as quickly as possible. Behind her, Szayel ran a hand through his wavy pink locks and smiled at no-one in particular.

"Why are you even asking, shinigami?" He sighed, shaking his head. "You wouldn't understand, with your low intelligence."

Nanao's nervousness evaporated and was quickly replaced by anger that sizzled and spat, but she somehow managed to retain her composure.

"Nemu-san, what does the main frame do?" Hinamori piped up. She was at the very back of the group and hadn't heard Szayel's sly comment. Ulquiorra was standing right beside her, still as a stature, with his green eyes dark and face void of expression.

"The main frame automatically records all of Mayuri-sama's experiments. If Mayuri-sama doesn't impute them himself, it uses the reiatsu imprint in the room and analyses it." She explained, tapping the keys. With that musical sigh, the screen flashes blue, and lines upon lines of strange curly writing written in neon orange appeared.

Nemu frowned.

"What's wrong?" Rukia asked worriedly.

"Mayuri-sama was working on a special substance that would grant whoever drink it immortality." Nemu said as she stared at the screen, her eyes intent. "I left him about five or so minutes before his disappearance. But this says he was using two inventions at the same time."

"Two?" Szayel repeated. "What was the other one?"

"A Time Warp."

Ichigo scratched the back of his neck. "What's a Time Warp?"

Nemu folded her arms over her chest and straightened her back. One-handed, she slapped some keys, and a picture of a small rectangular box flickered onto the screen. It was about the size of a microwave, with a bulky purple surface that resembled slime. There was a slot on the top and a bigger one on the side. The bigger one was transparent, and showed off the complex interior, a series of shelves that glowed with a light of their own.

"This," Nemu pointed at the picture. "is a Time Warp. It was designed to transport small objects to other dimensions."

"Whoa!" Renji gasped. "Does is work?"

"No," Nemu said, and Renji deflated with a disappointed huff. "Mayuri-sama could never get it to work, not matter how hard he tried. He experimented with it for almost three years before finally giving up."

"But," Rukia interjected. "this thing says it was used."

"Yes," Nemu confirmed. "and I don't understand how that is possible."

Ulquiorra's forever-there frown seemed to harden as he searched the room with his eyes. Reaching the desk, he noticed something pressed hard against the wall, and a test tube lay on its side, lid unscrewed. Eyes glinting with curiosity, he strayed from the security of the group and wandered over to the desk, eyeing the test tube with rapidly increasing interest.

"Ulquiorra-san!" Hinamori gasped, and she scurried to his side. "What are you doing? You mustn't touch Kurotsuchi-taichou's things!" She squeaked, as Ulquiorra picked up the test tube and held it in the light. A slick red liquid stained the sides and dripped steadily from the mouth. Hinamori followed his gaze, and her brown eyes widened.

"Tomato juice?" She mused.

Ulquiorra blinked. "What is tomato juice?"

"It's squeezed tomatoes with sugar and other additives," Hinamori explained rather vaguely. She glanced at the table, and wrinkled her nose. "It's everywhere!"

"Hn," Ulquiorra reached out and grabbed the strange rectangular box humming by the wall. He dragged it into the light, startled by how heavy it was, and examined it, Hinamori following his example. It was the same size and shape as a microwave, with a big slot at the front and a smaller one on top...

"That's the Time Warp!" Hinamori squealed excitedly. "We found it!"

_Hey, I found it,_ Ulquiorra mentally grumbled, but he didn't bother to say it out loud.

"Mina!" Hinamori yelled. "Ulquiorra-san and I found the Time Warp!"

"What?" Nemu sped over, and her mouth parted in a soundless gasp as she caught sight of the machine clasped in Ulquiorra's pale hands. "It is."

"The base is wet," Ulquiorra reported, turning it over. As he had stated, the bottom was dark with liquid.

"Did it absorb the tomato juice?" Hinamori wondered aloud, balancing the test tube in her dainty little fingers.

"It's been activated," Nemu realised, studying the front slot with her eyes narrowed. "the power source has been fried." Ulquiorra held up the box and together they peered inside. Nemu was right. At the very back was a bright red crystal, crackling and smouldering. The circuits around it were cracked and blackened, like they'd been exposed to flames. "It won't be working any time soon."

"Hn." Ichigo muttered darkly. "Why did it work?"

"It must've been the tomato juice." Nemu guessed, prodding the underside. "A chemical in the juice must've connected everything together and got it to work."

"So," Ichigo shouted in disbelief. "the secret to time travel or whatever is _tomato juice!_"

Nemu nodded. "It appears so."

"What the _hell!_" Ichigo screeched. "Why is everything so messed up here!"

"Hey..." Hisagi said quietly. "...is something moving over there?"

Everyone looked up and followed the direction in which Hisagi was pointing. Yachiru bounded over and touched her lip, frowning. If she looked closely, she could see something big and slimly slithering across the cold steel floor, leaving a trail of goo in its wake. She titled her head to one side, pink eyes wondering.

"There's some yucky over there," She complained in a sad voice.

"There is, too," Matsumoto agreed, squinting into the darkness. She walked forward, past Yachiru and a terrified Hisagi, and stopped about a foot or so away from where the shadows transformed into a suffocatingly dense curtain of black.

"Hello?" She called. "Is someone in there-oh?" Something was poking her ankle. Looking down, Matsumoto saw something long and thin and green, slick with slime. It resembled a tentacle, with puffy round rings growing along the underbelly. It prodded her legging timidly, experimentally.

Matsumoto went green.

"Rangiku-san!" Hisagi hollered. "Get away from it!"

But it was too late. Just as Matsumoto made to get away, the creature lashed out and coiled itself around Matsumoto's leg. Matsumoto screamed shrilly as her feet were ripped out from under her and she was dragged away into the darkness beyond. Something was chuckling, and the sound itself was almost wet.

"GAAH! Haineko!"

A cloud of ash dispensed into the air, and brutally slashed at the monster. No-one could see what was actually going on because of the shadows, but they heard the thing squeal in pain again and again, and Matsumoto screaming at the top of her voice for it to release her. Then, suddenly, everything went quite, and a tense second later Matsumoto stumbled back into view.

She was very wet and very slimy.

Hisagi went red as a fire engine. Blood trickled out of his nose.

"Nemu!" Matsumoto rounded on the soft-speaking scientist. "Just what kind of monsters does Kurotsuchi-taichou keep in here!"

Nemu shrugged. "Lots of things. Most of them are animals genetically modified, like that octopus."

Matsumoto's face was red with rage. "Why didn't you _warn _me?"

"I told you," Nemu reminded her coolly. "that I would not be held responsible for anything that drags you off, kicking and screaming."

"Oh, you little-"

But Matsumoto's rant was silenced by a low-key, throaty groan, that sounded from the depths of some thing's chest. The ground trembled as the mutant octopus clambered to its feet (or tentacles, whatever) and crept towards the group. More tentacles wriggled out into the light, and swept across the floor, reaching, hunting, for shinigami and arrancar both.

Nanao jumped back with a squeal of fright. So did Hisagi.

"It's huge!" Renji exclaimed.

And it was. The octopus towered above them like a sky scraper, its leathery skin wet and slippery. It's beady orange eyes were narrowed against the glare of the golden hue of the outside sun. They zoned in on the group, and with a roar-like moan, it's tentacles shot forward with the speed bullets.

One caught Harribel around the ankles but she cut through it with her sword and darted out of range. Ichigo's hand dived fro Zangetsu but before he could draw, a tentacles wrapped itself around his arm and heaved him into the air. Zangetsu tore off his back and clattered against the ground.

"Ichigo!" Rukia shrieked.

"Rukia!" Renji yelled urgently. "Look out!"

"What?" Rukia blinked in confusion, only to stare in horror at the tentacles hugged her waist. Screaming, she was lifted into the air with Ichigo, and shortly afterwards Renji, Stark and Grimmjow joined them. Grimmjow thrashed about in the monster's grip but failed top break free.

"Fuck you!" He snarled. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"Give it up, Grimmjow," Stark yawned, scratching the top of his head. He was begin dangled upside down but he didn't seem to mind his predicament. "there's no use. Just relax. Maybe it'll fall asleep."

"Bull shit!" Grimmjow barked, but Stark had already nodded off.

_Why is it, _Ichigo wondered, _that the Espada can be bested by a mutant octopus but not the combined force of the captains...?_

_/_

"Achoo!" Toshiro sneezed.

"Oh, Toshiro-kun," Hinata looked down and pressed her hand to the boy's forehead. "do you f-feel okay?"

"Yep!" Toshiro chirped. "No prob."

"Someone must've been talking about him," Kiba suggested.

Hinata sighed in relief and cradled Toshiro in her arms, running her fingers through his snowy white hair. Toshiro giggled happily, and hugged his dragon plushie to his chest.

"Ne, ne, Nata," He gently tapped her chin, smiling his cute little smile as he did so.

"Hai?"

He pointed to the picture tucked under Shino's arm. "Story?" He asked innocently.

Hinata grinned, and kissed his forehead affectionately. "Sure."

/

_*I apologize to anyone who took offence to Nemu saying Szayel's hair made him look gay. I did not mean to offend anyone.*_

**Oh gawd, I fail at keeping promises. I am SO sorry I took so long. Well...at least this time it wasn't a _three month _wait? ^^; **

**I'm going to call Hitsugaya Toshiro from now on. Easier to write. **

**RomanticKissesz: Thank you ^^ Well, there might be some romance. I might try some really random and crack pairings in this, just for the fun of it!**

**Winter Narcissus: It was? :D I didn't think it was all that funny when I wrote it! xD Thanks. I apologize for my bad spelling :**

**xxForevrLostxx: lol Um, Toshiro got mad because Komamura drew him so badly in the snow xD**

**And for everyone else who reviewed asking me to update or telling me how much they liked the story...thank you! Seriously! Reviews make my day, especially when they're nice reviews ^^**

**Bye-bye!**


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